SNIPPET: Daniel O'CONNELL (1775-1847) - the Liberator - dominated Irish politics during the first half of the 19th century. One of the first Catholics to enter the legal profession in 1798, he became one of the most successful barristers and the most prominent politician/hero in Ireland, winning emancipation for the Catholics thereby giving dignity and self-respect back to the Irish people after centuries of repression. His campaign to repeal the union between Ireland and England failed, but stimulated the founding of the Young Ireland movement. The following is from his speech on the floor of the Commons, 1837: "If we were seven millions of mere, dull, uneducated, degraded serfs, a mere mass of helotism, to our seven millions little regard should be paid. Once, indeed, we were sunk by the Penal Code. But a marvellous change has taken place. Men often talk of the great improvement which has taken place in Ireland, and in doing so they refer merely to its external aspect. Its moral one has undergone a still greater alteration. Not only has the plough climbed to the top of the mountain and cultivation pierced the morass, but the mind of Ireland has been reclaimed. You educate our people, and with the education of our people, the continuance of unnatural and unjust institutions is incompatible. But if education has done much, agitation has done more. Public opinion, which before did not exist, has been created in Ireland. The minds of men of all classes have been inlaid with the great principles on which the rights of the majority depended. This salutary influence has ascended to the higher classes, spread among the middle, and descended among the lower. The humblest peasant has been nobly affected by it. Even in the most abject destitution he has begun to acquire a sentiment of self-respect. 'He venerates himself a man.' I remember the time when, if you struck an Irish peasant, he cowered beneath the blow. Strike him now, and the spirit of offended manhood starts up in a breast covered with rags... No sir, we are not what we were. We have caught the intonations of your rhymes. Englishmen, we are too like you to give you leave to keep us down. Nay, in some points we have surpassed you. We are an undecaying and imperishable people." ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 12:07 PM Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Death of Daniel O'CONNELL - February 8,1847 - (excerpt, 1906 NY History Book) > SNIPPET: "On February 8 Daniel O'CONNELL, the great Irish Parliamentary > leader, made his last speech in the English House of Commons. <snip>

SNIPPET: Daniel O'CONNELL, born in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry in 1775, was elected in Ennis, Co. Clare, as the first Catholic member of the British Parliament. (See Derrynane House, below). Educated in France at the time when the anti-Catholic penal laws limited schooling for Irish Catholics in Ireland, O'CONNELL witnessed the carnage of the French Revolution. Upon his return to Ireland, he saw more bloodshed during the futile Rebellion of 1798. He chose law as his profession, and reluctantly killed a man who challenged him to a duel. Abhorring violence, he dedicated himself to peacefully gaining equal rights for Catholics in an Ireland dominated by a wealthy Protestant minority. He formed the Catholic Association, with a one-penny-per-month membership fee, and quickly gained a huge following, especially among the poor, with his persuasive speaking skills. Although Catholics were not allowed to hold office, he ran for election to Parliament, anyway, and won a seat in 1828. Unwilling to take the anti-Catholic Oath of Supremacy initially kept him out of Westminster, but the moral force of his victory caused the government to give in and concede Catholic emancipation the following year. Known as "the Liberator," O'CONNELL was making progress toward his next goal of repealing the Act of Union with Britain when the Potato Famine hit in 1845. He died two years later in Genoa on his way to Rome, but his ideals lived on. Derrynane House is the home of O'CONNELL, Ireland's most influential preindependence politician, whose tireless nonviolent agitation gained equality for Catholics 175 years ago. The coastal lands of the O'CONNELL estate that surround Derrynane House are now a national historic park. A visit here is a window onto a man who not only liberated Ireland from the last oppressive anti-Catholic penal laws, but who also developed the idea of a grassroots movement, organizing on a massive scale to achieve political ends without bloodshed. O'CONNELL's turbulent life makes the contents of the house most interesting. In the exhibition room downstairs is a glass case containing the pistols that were used in the famous duel. Beside them are his black gloves, one of which he always wore on his right pistol hand when he went to Mass, out of remorse for the part it played in taking a man's life. The drawing room upstairs is lined with family portraits and his ornately carved chair. On the wall in the upstairs bedroom is a copy of his most famous speech imploring the Irish not to riot when he was arrested. Out back, beside the tearoom, is an enormous grand chariot that carried O'CONNELL through throngs of joyous Dubliners after his release from prison in 1844. He added the small chapel wing to the house in gratitude to God for his prison release. The grounds of the estate are pleasant enough for a 20-minute stroll to the beach and back. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:05 PM Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] Biography -- Death of Daniel O'CONNELL - February8, 1847 - (excerpt, 1906 NY History Book) > SNIPPET: Daniel O'CONNELL (1775-1847) - the Liberator - dominated Irish > politics during the first half of the 19th century. One of the first > Catholics to enter the legal profession in 1798, he became one of the most > successful barristers and the most prominent politician/hero in Ireland, > winning emancipation for the Catholics thereby giving dignity and > self-respect back to the Irish people after centuries of repression. His > campaign to repeal the union between Ireland and England failed, but > stimulated the founding of the Young Ireland movement. <snip>

Many thanks, Jean. I love your snippets because they give us a chance to reflect. And in Daniel O'Connell, my gosh what there is to reflect about. Talk about a controversial figure! So here goes. He won 'Catholic Emancipation' but many would say it was a hollow victory, or more accurately a pyrrhic victory. The 'Catholics' could now vote, but for what? Certainly not for the measures necessary to prevent The Great Hunger. Nor for the significant political advantage he dreamed of. It would still take a long and bitter guerilla war in the succeeding century to win actual self-determination. And then we come to his leadership role (much applauded by the British) in the destruction of Irish culture. Imagine the Czar telling the Russians to speak French when Moscow fell to Napoleon. Imagine de Gaulle, or even the hated traitor Pétain, telling the French to speak la langue des Boches during the Nazi occupation. Imagine Churchill (not one of my heroes by the way, but still, imagine Churchill), or even the disgraced appeaser Neville Chamberlain, calling upon London to switch to German during the Blitz! Imagine 'The Three Hughs' telling the Irish to switch to English!!!!!!! Inconceivable, of course. Yet this fellow, a native Irish-speaker just like just about everybody else on the island before The Great Hunger, this O'Connell fellow used his esteemed position to tell the Irish that they should turn their backs on their own language and culture in order to win 'Catholic Emancipation.' That they should 'become more English than the English themselves.' That they should sacrifice dignity, honor, even identity, in order to beg the mercy of a single inalienable right from their oppressor. HRRRMMMPPPHHHH!!!!!! OR ____________________ !!!!!!! (insert your own emotional expression here) So, let me leave it that this fellow Donncha Ó Conaill (as he was known before he went English) is still a controversial figure in some circles. Either way, many thanks, Jean! Le gach dea-ghuí / Best, - Jerry -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jean R. Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 4:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] Added Note: Derrynane House/Daniel O'CONNELL b.Co. Kerry 1775 - Biography SNIPPET: Daniel O'CONNELL, born in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry in 1775, was elected in Ennis, Co. Clare, as the first Catholic member of the British Parliament. (See Derrynane House, below). Educated in France at the time when the anti-Catholic penal laws limited schooling for Irish Catholics in Ireland, O'CONNELL witnessed the carnage of the French Revolution. Upon his return to Ireland, he saw more bloodshed during the futile Rebellion of 1798. He chose law as his profession, and reluctantly killed a man who challenged him to a duel. Abhorring violence, he dedicated himself to peacefully gaining equal rights for Catholics in an Ireland dominated by a wealthy Protestant minority. He formed the Catholic Association, with a one-penny-per-month membership fee, and quickly gained a huge following, especially among the poor, with his persuasive speaking skills. Although Catholics were not allowed to hold office, he ran for election to Parliament, anyway, and won a seat in 1828. Unwilling to take the anti-Catholic Oath of Supremacy initially kept him out of Westminster, but the moral force of his victory caused the government to give in and concede Catholic emancipation the following year. Known as "the Liberator," O'CONNELL was making progress toward his next goal of repealing the Act of Union with Britain when the Potato Famine hit in 1845. He died two years later in Genoa on his way to Rome, but his ideals lived on. Derrynane House is the home of O'CONNELL, Ireland's most influential preindependence politician, whose tireless nonviolent agitation gained equality for Catholics 175 years ago. The coastal lands of the O'CONNELL estate that surround Derrynane House are now a national historic park. A visit here is a window onto a man who not only liberated Ireland from the last oppressive anti-Catholic penal laws, but who also developed the idea of a grassroots movement, organizing on a massive scale to achieve political ends without bloodshed. O'CONNELL's turbulent life makes the contents of the house most interesting. In the exhibition room downstairs is a glass case containing the pistols that were used in the famous duel. Beside them are his black gloves, one of which he always wore on his right pistol hand when he went to Mass, out of remorse for the part it played in taking a man's life. The drawing room upstairs is lined with family portraits and his ornately carved chair. On the wall in the upstairs bedroom is a copy of his most famous speech imploring the Irish not to riot when he was arrested. Out back, beside the tearoom, is an enormous grand chariot that carried O'CONNELL through throngs of joyous Dubliners after his release from prison in 1844. He added the small chapel wing to the house in gratitude to God for his prison release. The grounds of the estate are pleasant enough for a 20-minute stroll to the beach and back. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:05 PM Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] Biography -- Death of Daniel O'CONNELL - February8, 1847 - (excerpt, 1906 NY History Book) > SNIPPET: Daniel O'CONNELL (1775-1847) - the Liberator - dominated > Irish politics during the first half of the 19th century. One of the > first Catholics to enter the legal profession in 1798, he became one > of the most successful barristers and the most prominent > politician/hero in Ireland, winning emancipation for the Catholics > thereby giving dignity and self-respect back to the Irish people after > centuries of repression. His campaign to repeal the union between > Ireland and England failed, but stimulated the founding of the Young > Ireland movement. <snip> ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message